Fellow Stories
True gap year stories from Fellows abroad!
Check out the latest blogs from Global Citizen Year Fellows in Brazil, Ecuador, and India!
Category
Class Year
Country
Allowing Yourself to Break Free
Peter Dull
2019-03-23
There is never a dull moment in Senegal (pun intended). As I make my final errands for my supervisor’s wedding in Dakar and wrap up my final community project, I often forget those who have been with me throughout this entire journey: my host family. Although I had issues initially when I was assimilating into...
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it’s a Splash
Marta Shcharbakova
2019-03-21
Now, this is a vulnerability alert: I am even more lost than I was before I came to Senegal. Belarus, Singapore, UWC, Senegal. That’s what I’m made of. Now: sitting in a chear, starring somewhere ahead of me. I see so much in front of me: so many things, alternative realities, but I’m not amongst...
Read MoreSchool
London Samson
2019-03-20
For the longest time, I dreaded the idea of having to continue school after the 4 long years of high school. It wasn’t until recently, during this much needed gap year, that I felt excited about heading back into the classroom. I’ll give you some background, I used to “like” school for the social accommodations...
Read MoreLife Under a Mosquito Net
Luca Sassi
2019-03-20
When I describe my time here in Thienaba I think it as living in two worlds at the same time. I have my first and main world, which is the one when I’m awake and fulfilling all my daily activities. My second world is once I get under my mosquito net in my room and...
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Daily Routines
Luca Sassi
2019-03-20
I live in a small village called Thienaba about 20km away from Thies (a major city of Senegal). In here is always very calm. Houses are widely spread between one and another and most of the citizens have animals such as chickens, sheeps, goats, donkeys, horses and more (in my case we have 6 sheeps)....
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Who am I?
Luca Sassi
2019-03-20
If you know me for the past 18 years of my life you probably know me as Luca Sassi…. maybe my full name if you know me well, but not in here, not in this country. The moment I took my first step in what is now my home I saw a woman, who the...
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The calm during the storm
Aissatou Tagaty Badio
2019-03-19
March 2019 I wanna go home. It is 9:03 AM. I am sitting down in the middle of my room, looking at my screen. I just paused my music to listen to the birds’ singing. The melody is sereine, ecstatic and it gives me a sense of melancholy. It’s cold, no, it’s freezing, and I...
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10 things I wish they told me before coming to Khombole
Aissatou Tagaty Badio
2019-03-19
February 2019 1. Senegalese summers are hot, and when I say hot, I mean waking up dripping in sweat at 3 AM because there was a power cut and your lovely fan stopped working. 2. There is some kind of “winter” in here. It gets very cold and windy during late nights and early mornings....
Read MoreTo the Wellesley Dean of Admission… a Gap Year update
Phoebe Shea Perez
2019-03-18
[Note: this entry was originally sent to Wellesley in an email as a gap year update, but I thought it fitting to post here as well since it encompasses so much of my sojourn in Senegal thus far.] To the Wellesley Dean of Admission, I hope this email finds you well. I apologise for sending...
Read More"You will leave when you start asking the right questions"
Miriam Abel
2019-03-13
In September, Abby Falik, the CEO and founder of GCY, gave us one important advice: “You will leave when you start asking the right questions.” So, here are my questions I wonder: 1. How can we effectively challenge the single story people have about Africa? 2. How can we start decolonising our vocabulary and behaviour?...
Read MoreThe epitome of my ignorance
Miriam Abel
2019-03-13
I always knew that my thinking and my opinions are shaped by my culture, langauge and history. Isn’t that an obvious fact? Isn’t everyone aware that how they think evolves from factors that we just cannot control? However, is being aware of this enough if we do not actively think outside our own cultural box?...
Read MoreWelcome week, catches and closing seminar
Ndenda Mutsaku
2019-03-11
A a few memories of the amazing time with the fellows! The other amazing part of GCY Algunos recuerdos de los momentos increíble con mis compañeros.Otro lado maravilloso de GCY. Swinging in the beach(Nadar en la playa) Escuchar reggaeton mientras juega UNO (Listening to reggaeton while playing UNO) Night conversation under the start (conversaciones en...
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